Industries are increasingly being faced with the need to reduce costs while providing effective instruction. One of the major costs in delivering instruction is travel. Either an instructor must be sent to a worksite or all the students must travel to a training center, often for days or weeks. Two of the concepts which are being actively pursued as possible solutions to the travel problem are the placing of computerized training in the workplace and setting up satellite links for delivering lectures to multiple remote sites. So called distance teaming techniques need to provide a means of remote access to an instructor and a way of delivering declarative information efficiently. Distance teaming generally is used to refer to remote links between an instructor and students. These links are often through expensive satellite down links offering one way video and two way audio, and occasionally, two way video. While these links are useful for delivering information and some discussion, they are not well suited for teaching declarative skills that require extensive practice.
It also turns out from various studies that have been made that many training centers are spending large amounts of money on the aforesaid video and audio equipment to achieve at best the same levels of effectiveness that occur in the typical classroom.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a real time interactive computer system that will enable training more people with fewer instructors at a time when the general skill level of incoming employees is declining and the skill requirements are increasing. Said system can employ, but does not require, expensive video and audio equipment.
Another object is to meet the challenge of reducing training costs and increasing speed and effectiveness.
In considering and analyzing the objects, advantages and features of the present invention, it is well for the person skilled to the art to recognize that the present invention falls into the general field of what is called distance learning, as noted previously. For an appreciation of the various concepts and techniques already known in this field or domain, reference may be made to the following articles:
(1) Rooms: The Use of Multiple Virtual Workspaces To Reduce Space Contention In A Window-Based Graphical User Interface, D. Austin Henderson, Jr., and Stuart K. Card, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 1986; (2) Design for Conversation: Lessons from Cognoter, Deborah G. Tatar, and Daniel G. Bobrow, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 1990; (3) rIbis: A Real-Time Group Hypertest System, Gail L. Rein and Clarence A. Ellis, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austin, Tex., 1990; (4) Structure and Support In Cooperative Environments: The Amsterdam Conversation Environment, Elizabeth A. Dykstra, Universiteit van Amstedam, The Netherlands, 1990; (5) Toward An Open Shared Workspace: Computer And Video Fusion Approach of Teamworkstation, Hiroshi Ishii, and Naomi Miyake, Communications of the ACM, December, 1991; (6) Stimulating Keyboard Input Between Programs Requires A (Key)Stroke of Genius, Jeffrey Richter, Microsoft Systems Journal, December, 1992.
The first article cited above describes Rooms as a window manager that overcomes small screen size by exploiting the statistics of window access, dividing the users workspace into a suite of virtual workspaces with transitions among them. The second article describes an ability to create a more realistic model of the situation that users faced in the design of software, that is, they encounter difficulties coordinating their conversational actions. This led to redesign of the Cognoter, a multi-user idea organizing tool. The third article describes a real-time group hypertext system, which allows a distributed set of users to simultaneously browse and edit multiple views of a hypertext network. The fourth article describes theory and concepts in designing a synchronous shared workspace to support human interaction and a description of such a system. The fitch article describes computer-based approaches to try to bridge a gap between computer support A and telecommunication support C by enhancing computer programs, so that data and programs can be used by a group in real-time collaboration. The sixth article describes how one application can simulate keystrokes to another application in the Microsoft.RTM. Windows.TM. operating system.
All of the above noted articles relate in one way or another to the integrated distance learning tutor concept and to related concepts, such as, shared work space. The fundamental problem that has arisen is that distance learning systems, in general, have been used with mixed results for primary and secondary education and college courses as a solution to the travel problem; however, interaction is very limited. Even with two way video, there is only one instructor for many students and they are separated possibly by hundreds of miles.
It will be understood that the system of the present invention does not include all of the components of the full integrated distance learning tutor (IDLT) system as generally described in periodicals appearing in the literature--involving as they do the aforenoted two way video. We believe that, at least for training purposes, two way video is often superfluous and can even be detrimental. Therefore, our tutor supports the student and instructor dialogues for a single audio and data link, preferably over a regular copper phone line. It should also be noted that while video may be used for showing external objects, such as, switches, we find that allowing the instructor and student to see the work station screen is the critical characteristic.